Defending Champions India Bounce Back Past England at Chess Olympiad

Defending champions India bounced back from their previous loss to defeat England 2.5-1.5 in the seventh round of the Chess Olympiad in Samarkand on Wednesday. R Praggnanandhaa and D Gukesh delivered crucial wins to secure the match, helping the team recover from a painful defeat against Uzbekistan.

Men's Section Action

Captain Srinath Narayanan kept faith in Nihal Sarin on Board 3 despite his recent blunder against Nodirbek Yakubboev. Nihal pressed hard with the black pieces against Luke McShane, but the Englishman survived the pressure and a chaotic time scramble to claim the win. However, India had already secured the match through victories elsewhere. Praggnanandhaa opened the scoring by defeating Nikita Vitiugov on the top board for his second win of the tournament. Arjun Erigaisi then drew his match against Michael Adams after 40 moves on Board 2. World Champion Gukesh sealed the contest on Board 4 by capitalizing on a mistake by Daniel Howard Fernandez on the 40th move during a time scramble.

Women's Section Action

In the women's event, India swept Germany 3.5-0.5 to boost their gold-medal defence. Koneru Humpy broke a streak of three draws by defeating Dinara Wagner on top board. Teenage debutant Savitha Shri B continued her stellar run on Board 4, beating Lara Schulze for her sixth consecutive win. Divya Deshmukh replaced Vantika Agrawal and defeated Hanna Marie Klek on Board 3. R Vaishali secured the team's only draw against Elisabeth Paehtz. With co-leaders China and Kazakhstan drawing their match, India sits in third place, just one match point behind the leaders.